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Perfect Mac for College
- Thread starter bigrell486
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i4k20c said:if they were going to get a 17inch laptop (i'd say at that point it is better to get a desktop)..
17" are nice laptops, I mean notebooks. I would not recommend them to most users though since it is way too big for most people would do in college. For me its great to do everything on one screen and no I am not going back to my dorm to hook up to an LCD monitor.
As mentioned before, dont depend on vpc, its a waste of time and money.bigrell486 said:
Get a macbook, for the main reason being you can run windows or mac natively.
But it depends on the courses/major you will be taking. If its a computer based major (comp sci, info sys.) i would go for a book, if youre doing new media, video, anything like that go pro.
Or if you will be using it for just yourself, internet, text editor, music, i would say the pb would be the best bet cause itll be cheaper for more.
Having gone to college for one year with a desktop and then getting a new PowerBook for my second year last year, I would recommend getting a laptop to everyone. Other have already mentioned being able to escape noise and parties. It's just so useful to be able to pull out wherever you like and work on a paper or do some research. It's even better when you need to work on a group project and you are meeting away from your place. Going home for the holidays? You can bring it all with you... (yeah, sometimes you wish you could leave it but you don't always have the choice!) There were weeks where I didn't take my laptop to school at all, but there were weeks where I took it everyday. Even those times when I only needed it to be portable for two hours out of the week made it worth it!
I agree with Reflex:
I would wait till the end of august(maybe you might just catch a update/price drop), and then buy:
A macbook - $1000
2gig of ram - $200
If you got the cash get these right away, otherwise just wait till you get the money:
a external display - $300 - $500 (cheap 20" samsung bw205 maybe?, or if you got more money a dell 2007/2407)
-bluetooth keyboard/mouse - $70
speakerset - $60
This way you get the best of both worlds, and more actually a 20" widescreen is just great to work with.
I would wait till the end of august(maybe you might just catch a update/price drop), and then buy:
A macbook - $1000
2gig of ram - $200
If you got the cash get these right away, otherwise just wait till you get the money:
a external display - $300 - $500 (cheap 20" samsung bw205 maybe?, or if you got more money a dell 2007/2407)
-bluetooth keyboard/mouse - $70
speakerset - $60
This way you get the best of both worlds, and more actually a 20" widescreen is just great to work with.
kaboutertje said:
MacBook is at least $1100, RAM can be more expensive. Maybe around 250?
NEVER get a cheap display, you would smash yourself on against a wall if you try to do some serious work on cheap displays.
Good speakers for 60$? Nah. So why get bad speakers just because they are cheaper?
So, this laptop-to-desktop conversion can get pretty expensive, if you get good gear.
He gets the student discount, the samsung 205bw isn't a bad display, and the dell is up there with the apple widescreens.
I never said $60 will get you good speakers. I've had numerous speakers ranging from high end tannoy's, small 2.1 sets to the budget z5500 I got now. And honestly as long as the sound isn't bad I don't really care. The speakers on the macbook are bad though, so a 2.1 set like the creative itrique will give you better sound, and they look good too. And it's not like the sound on the imac is award winning either. A 20" imac will cost him a lot too, and 17" is too small for my taste.
I never said $60 will get you good speakers. I've had numerous speakers ranging from high end tannoy's, small 2.1 sets to the budget z5500 I got now. And honestly as long as the sound isn't bad I don't really care. The speakers on the macbook are bad though, so a 2.1 set like the creative itrique will give you better sound, and they look good too
. And it's not like the sound on the imac is award winning either. A 20" imac will cost him a lot too, and 17" is too small for my taste.
Get a laptop and add mouse, keyboard and maybe a 17/19" display (if you need this type of setup) its the best way to go. I know it'll take a while for me to get a desktop again...maybe when i finally get my own place. My room is the biggest in the apartment so naturally when guests/family/relatives come visit i have to give up my room and its times like that i thank God i gotta laptop.
Last desktop i had was almost destroyed due to kids knocking it around and almost smashing my LCD display. I immediately sold it. Now i have a laptop i can just pick it up and go to the nearest cafe and have peace with no worrying about something happening.
Honestly, check apple refurb sites they have good deals on high performance machines.
Last desktop i had was almost destroyed due to kids knocking it around and almost smashing my LCD display. I immediately sold it. Now i have a laptop i can just pick it up and go to the nearest cafe and have peace with no worrying about something happening.
Honestly, check apple refurb sites they have good deals on high performance machines.
Given the choice between the two computers you have listen above... getting the new Macbook for ~$200 more is a COMPLETE no brainer.
It is better than that 1.3 G4 in every way... I would even goes as far to say that I bet that the INTEGRATED video in the MB is better than the 'discreet' card in the older G4 model.
Unless you have a very specific reason to buy the G4 (legacy software, PowerPC assembly programmer... hell, I dunno) it is FAR better money spent (even if a little more) to by the newer machine.
If you want more of the 'Desktop' feel, do like I did and get an external keyboard, monitor and mouse to use while at home.
http://www.davecrist.com/mysite/Photos_files/DSCF0006.jpg
Works GREAT and still leaves me the option of taking my computer with me when I need/want to. Having a mobile computer reveals its real convenience in subtle ways that you don't realize until you do it.... I am not necessarily talking about taking notes in class... but reading research documents in bed, surfing while watching TV (IMDB surfing is a lot of fun while watching old movies... try it... -- ok, i am a movie dork)... and, except for some slight clocking with the graphics card, the MBP 2.0 is just as fast as the iMac 20" (I know, I know, disk speed and DVD burning aside... let's assume raw ops performance).... even though I think that the iMac 20" is GREAT machine -- the best deal that Apple has had in a long time.
It is better than that 1.3 G4 in every way... I would even goes as far to say that I bet that the INTEGRATED video in the MB is better than the 'discreet' card in the older G4 model.
Unless you have a very specific reason to buy the G4 (legacy software, PowerPC assembly programmer... hell, I dunno) it is FAR better money spent (even if a little more) to by the newer machine.
If you want more of the 'Desktop' feel, do like I did and get an external keyboard, monitor and mouse to use while at home.
http://www.davecrist.com/mysite/Photos_files/DSCF0006.jpg
Works GREAT and still leaves me the option of taking my computer with me when I need/want to. Having a mobile computer reveals its real convenience in subtle ways that you don't realize until you do it.... I am not necessarily talking about taking notes in class... but reading research documents in bed, surfing while watching TV (IMDB surfing is a lot of fun while watching old movies... try it... -- ok, i am a movie dork)... and, except for some slight clocking with the graphics card, the MBP 2.0 is just as fast as the iMac 20" (I know, I know, disk speed and DVD burning aside... let's assume raw ops performance).... even though I think that the iMac 20" is GREAT machine -- the best deal that Apple has had in a long time.
Probably out of his price range though, and well I wpuldn't buy a MBP which has a 99% chance to get replaced in the near futureKingYaba said:
mikes63737 said:That's too fast... more like a dead snail.
If you do decide to get the MB, which I reccommend, then you can go to Newegg and upgrade the RAM to 2 GB for about $160 (which is worth it).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231066
I don't recommend Newegg. I recommend Macsales OWC RAM.
I got at least a gig for my birthday, which, looking at clock, is four and a half hours away!
kaboutertje said:I never said $60 will get you good speakers. I've had numerous speakers ranging from high end tannoy's, small 2.1 sets to the budget z5500 I got now. And honestly as long as the sound isn't bad I don't really care. The speakers on the macbook are bad though, so a 2.1 set like the creative itrique will give you better sound, and they look good too
I dont want to argue, I'll just say that speakers that seem to sound ok/fine for some people, sound bad for others. To ge good speakers for YOU, you should listen to them before you buy.
it5five said:
I don't live in US, so I dont know US prices very well.
davecrist said:
No way. It's just "slow" G4 in iBook that holds it's gaming beformance. Snap in Radeon 9550 in MacBook (hypothetically) and you'll see a huge improvement over the GMA.
